GW v. BC Forum

[Sandstorm]

I think I've narrowed it down to really two choices. GW and BC. I want to go into some form of corporate law, and would like to shoot for BigLaw. I understand both can place into Biglaw but obv. not nearly as well as higher schools.

I want to practice in either DC or NYC. DC is probably by far my favorite city. I've spent weekends in Boston and they were fine, but I couldn't see myself living longterm in Boston. Seems social conversations in Boston were geared more towards sports, (and I hate watching/following sports (Actually I just don't like Baseball, basketball or football)) That aside, I love politics and that may be the reason I like DC so much. Obv. I'm not going into politics or government as a career choice so maybe that shouldn't be as large a consideration. I'm currently in undergrad and work part time for a lobbying firm in my state.

I want to be longterm in either DC or NYC. Boston College seems like the best choice financially, but I just don't want to get stuck in Boston. Should I go with BC or swallow the large debt from GW? Thanks!

Rough Estimates:
GW CoA: 180K
BC CoA: 105K
BU CoA: 180K

[2011Law]

I was just at the GW preview, spent three nights in DC, and can't wait to get there in August. Though BC will give you a slightly better shot at biglaw and will save you about 75k, I would say to go to GW because of your strong interest in wanting to be in DC or NYC (which GW also places pretty well). And though I like to watch sports, coming from a college town for undergrad I know what you mean when you say it seems all conversations revolve around sports and how annoying that gets.

Also, I heard this from multiple profs and alumni regarding debt: take debt very seriously, but don't forget you'll have an entire career to pay it off.

edit: just wanted to add that I'm still waiting to see what money BC might offer me, as well as a few other schools, but I'm not planning on getting a better offer than I got at GW.

[bk1]

Go to BC, aim for NYC.

This isn't even close.

[justhockey31]

BC for your interests in BigLaw and NYC

[Sandstorm]

Thanks for the input so far. I think the polls closer than what I would have thought. Would DC be outside of possibility if I went to BC?

[JusticeHarlan]

Thanks for the input so far. I think the polls closer than what I would have thought. Would DC be outside of possibility if I went to BC?

Not impossible, but obviously not all that high a possibility. BC participates in an off-campus job fair for DC along with BU, UT, and Northwestern, but I don't have a good sense how many firms go these days, or what the GPA cut-offs are, etc. DC is by all accounts a tough nut to crack ITE even from the t-14, and obviously, GW is going to be better for DC than BC.

[Grizz]

Go to BC, aim for NYC.

This isn't even close.

[Sandstorm]

DC is the one city I know I will like to practice. I think I could get used to NYC but I'm not crazy about Boston. The idea of closing myself off from DC by my choice of school is worrisome to me. I tried to come up with a pro/con list but found it hard to come up with many for BC. Ofcourse the biglaw stats and the smaller debt are huge pros, and should be weighted as such.

[Grizz]

DC is the one city I know I will like to practice. I think I could get used to NYC but I'm not crazy about Boston. The idea of closing myself off from DC by my choice of school is worrisome to me. I tried to come up with a pro/con list but found it hard to come up with many for BC. Ofcourse the biglaw stats and the smaller debt are huge pros, and should be weighted as such.

You're not closing yourself off from DC. DC is tough from anywhere, including GW. But the GW debt is gonna be hard to pay off without big firm jerbs, which are insanely competitive in DC.

[bk1]

DC is the one city I know I will like to practice. I think I could get used to NYC but I'm not crazy about Boston. The idea of closing myself off from DC by my choice of school is worrisome to me. I tried to come up with a pro/con list but found it hard to come up with many for BC. Ofcourse the biglaw stats and the smaller debt are huge pros, and should be weighted as such.

You're not closing yourself off from DC. DC is tough from anywhere, including GW. But the GW debt is gonna be hard to pay off without big firm jerbs, which are insanely competitive in DC.

This is credited. Only about 1/3 of GW grads actually stay in the DC area.

[Sandstorm]

What sort of ranking would I need from BC to get down to DC, and/or to have a decent Biglaw job at either DC/NYC or Boston? Are we talking something like top 5%, 10%, 15%, or 25%?

[20160810]

Go to BC, aim for NYC.

This isn't even close.

/thread

[Blindmelon]

What sort of ranking would I need from BC to get down to DC, and/or to have a decent Biglaw job at either DC/NYC or Boston? Are we talking something like top 5%, 10%, 15%, or 25%?

From what I know at BU (which I assume would be the same for BC), we only have like 5 students going to DC bigfirms this summer. 3 are on Law Review and all but 1 I think are in the top 10%. The other person is likely top 10%, but missed LR.

In all, I'd say top 10% + LR to be competitive, but its by no means a sure thing.

[BCLS Alum]

Every year around 10-15 BCLS students going to vault firms in DC from BC. A few are typically on law review (generic), but most are on some other form of board (secondary journal, moot court). I imagine they are all in the top 25-30% of the class, as the firms they got were typically the type of firms that require top 25%.